Four Approaches To Design Your Book Cover

There are a variety of approaches and methods to design your book cover, so if you attempt the upcoming four options and you do not meet much success then keep going. Do not quit. There are plenty of options that can come from a simple Google search, so just keep pushing ahead, step by step.

Option #1 – Canva.com. If you’re on a budget and/or have a creative eye Canva.com is the most user friendly design platform to help a novice designer create his or her own book cover. It offers both free images and images for $1.00. It is free to sign up so the only expenses you will have will be based on the amount of premium images, designs, and fonts that you pick, but each cover will not cost you more than $5.00.

Option #2 – Fiverr.com. You’re probably beginning to see that I use and recommend Fiverr quite a bit. That would be an accurate observation because I use it all the time. Quite honestly it is the first site I go to when I’m unsure about a specific task that I need to have done. It is always relatively cheap, quick, and hassle free (I’m not an affiliate). Do a search for “Kindle ebook cover designers” and you’ll see a great deal of options. To avoid multiple purchases, be sure to hire work from a seller who offers free revisions and be sure to specify that it is for Kindle. You want to be sure that the image is the standard dimensions.

Option #3 – Etsy.com, Elance.com, Upwork.com, 99Designs.com. These options are helpful because they allow for greater customization. Typically the designers that you find in these platforms are a bit more skilled than the average designer that you might find on Fiverr, but this will cost a premium. I personally have one designer that I occasionally turn to and she charges me $35.00 for a book cover. The nice part about paying a little more is that it justifies your right to be a little more picky and detail orientated when you review your first drafts.

Option #4 – Archangelink.com. Essentially if you just want an awesome cover produced by professionals check out Archangelink.com. A bit pricey at $199, but if you can afford it I highly recommend it. I know a lot of authors who use Archangel Ink for a variety of services they offer and it just seems like these authors always end up selling a ton of books. Sure, the cover isn’t the only factor, but if the successful authors are using them and you have the budget, I recommend it.

Between these four options you should be good to go but I want to caution you that you should avoid beginning this process before you complete your title and subtitle. I remember when I first started self-publishing I got so excited about a book idea that I had that I started to have my cover designed prematurely. Needless to say, I ended up with a cover with an outdated title and subtitle. This isn’t a big deal if you’re using canva.com and paying only a few dollars, but any more than that is inefficient business.

With that being said let us take a minute to recap what we have covered so far. At this point we should be comfortable following the steps to creating a book title and maintaining certain criteria when developing the subtitle. Remember there is nothing wrong with looking at other books to help you develop an understanding of the appropriate format just be sure to avoid doing what everybody else is doing. Your goal is to stand out and peak a potential reader’s curiosity. That is going to happen with a creative book cover and a strong title subtitle combination.

Once you feel like you have a solid foundational understanding of the outside of the book along with your completed draft, there are some additional components that can be placed in your book to help grow an audience and increase the income potential. Beyond these items we’re also going to cover some typical book components that most readers scan right over and first time authors might forget, but are still very important to include.